City council candidates talk about the issues

For the first and only time this election, Kinston residents had the opportunity to view the candidates — for whom they have the opportunity to vote — through a broadcast.

Seven candidates — Teddra Hussey-Smith, Marc McKnight, Adrien Meadows, John Nix, Robbie Swinson, Carol Tokarski and Wynn Whittington — spoke on issues pertaining to Kinston on the TACC-9 community television station in an attempt to garner votes for the upcoming election.

The eighth candidate, Lennie Peterson, was unable to attend the forum.

Each candidate was given three minutes each for an opening and closing statement, along with two minutes each for the seven questions asked.

Hussey-Smith used her opening statement to speak about getting Kinston back to the prominence she saw in earlier times.

“I support healthy communities of Kinston, all of Kinston,” Hussey-Smith said. “We are affected by health, education, economic and housing, which is in jeopardy of the state, and which will also affect Kinston.”

McKnight, who said his family has been in Kinston since 1913, said he saw what the city used to be and wants to make things easier for citizens.

“Someone has to look over Kinston’s resources, which are our people, from seniors all the way down to the babies,” McKnight said.

Meadows, the youngest candidate for city council at age 25, opened with a quote, attempting to invoke wisdom to potential voters.

“Your mind is like a parachute: it doesn’t work unless you open it,” Meadows said. “With that said, I am willing and happy to be here tonight and very positive that we will all learn from one another.”

A major focus of Nix has been on Kinston Public Safety and keeping officers in the city.

“Our retention rate is low and we need to do better,” Nix said. “We need to keep these guys in action, and we have experienced personnel.”

Swinson, the incumbent councilman, wants to see more economic development in Kinston.

“I love Kinston, and I want to see our city move forward by focusing on job creation,” Swinson said. “Job creation will help decrease some of the crime, but I also want to make sure our citizens get educated, and make sure they know their resources here in our community.”

The main points of Tokarski’s opening statement dealt with her disdain for nonpartisan elections and decayed property in Kinston.

“I am a Democrat and believe they are nothing more than a smokescreen for the Republican and independent agenda,” Tokarski said about nonpartisan elections. “(Also), we need to take a look at the property rentals in this town because the landlords are destroying our inner core.”

Whittington, who has spent nearly 20 years as an educator in Kinston, wants to see students come back to Kinston and have the same passion he did as a teenager.

Through my experience, I’ve watched children leave the city to go to college and not return, because there wasn’t anything here for them, so they thought,” Whittington said. “I can remember as a teenager, thinking ‘Kinston is a wonderful place to come raise a family.’”

Early voting starts on Thursday, and will run until Nov. 2, with Election Day on Nov. 5.

Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.